Falling
by violetstars1039
Summary: Max always thought she'd be able to have a normal life with an ordinary guy. That all changed once Alec came into her life.


*Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thank you to my two wonderful betas. I appreciate all your hard work. If there are any mistakes they are mine. This is also my first Dark Angel fic so I hope you like it.*  
This was written for the DA Reverse Big Bang. Please review!

**I.**  
Alec sat up in bed watching some nameless X5 stitch him up. He should really know this girl's name or her designation at least but for the life of him he can't remember either. He's too busy worrying about Dalton and the fall out that is inevitable. The X5 at his side keeps repeating the same sentence, "You've lost a lot of blood." Alec really wants to tell her that's what multiple bullets will do to you but he keeps his mouth shut and concentrates on the voices in the hall.

Syl is the first one to come through the door that's not medical personal and glares at him with her hands on her hips. Alec meets her glare waiting for her to rip him a new one. It takes under ten seconds. "GOD DAMN IT ALEC WHAT HAPPENED? WHY'S DALTON SO FREAKED OUT AND WHY ARE YOU SHOT TO HELL?"

Alec scratched at his bar code as he looked up at Syl, "Some ordinaries saw Dalton's bar code and took some shots at him. I knocked Dalton outta the way and got tagged instead."

"Shit! Max is gonna freak out when she sees you!"

"Yeah I know and she's really gonna kick my ass when she finds the real reason I went on a supply run."

"The real reason? Alec what did you do?" Alec smiled up at Syl before pulling a little velvet box from his pants pocket. She arched her eyebrow asking, "Is that what I think it is? Wait. You two are already mated..."

"It is and I kinda figured we were mated when she sunk her teeth into my neck."

"Alec..." Syl growled.

"I got it 'cause ya know how she always tried to be normal. This is what ord...I mean normal girls get when they're mated, I mean married, whatever." Alec shoved the box towards Syl, "I need you to hold on to it for me. I don't wanna give it to Max like this."

As soon as Syl slipped the box into her pocket, Max appeared in the doorway, her lips pressed together in a thin line and her eyes spitting fire. She looked like she was about to kick Alec's ass for the umpteenth time until she saw the blood that had stained his clothes. Her eyes softened, her face draining of color as she walked towards him. "Alec?"

"Ah, it's nothing Maxie; just a flesh wound."

Max perches on the edge of his bed and begins drilling the medic about Alec's condition. She ignores Alec's repeated assurances that he's fine and that he's had much worse in the past. The concerned look on Max's face, the way she's clutching his hand and the fact that they're now mated suddenly feels surreal to Alec. It wasn't too long ago that Max would've walked up to him, called him a moron and punched or kicked him. How they went from frenemies to friends to lovers still makes Alec's head spin.

It all started innocently enough.

Alec noticed her that first day she came out to training. How could he not? He was in the row behind her to her left, so close he could touch her. He attempted to keep his gaze straight ahead but his eyes kept wandering in 452's direction. A breeze swept through the training yard carrying an unfamiliar scent with it. He knew immediately it was her. Something from the outside world still clung to her skin something that smelled like...Alec sniffed the air again, a small ghost of a smile appearing on his face...cherries. She smelled like cherries.

He noticed the other X5 males around him sniffing at the air, their eyes now turned in her direction. Alec gave a warning growl low in his throat. He was the Alpha in this group and he'd be damned if one of these guys got their hands on her. He shook his head wondering why he was asserting his dominance over the other males for her. 'You're protecting her 494, that's why.' He told himself, 'You know what they've been doing to her down in Psy Ops. Traitor or not she doesn't deserve to be jumped by one of these douche bags.'

The next day Alec was escorted to Renfro's office. At first he assumed he was going to finally be sent on a solo mission that was for more than a few days, that they finally bought into his true blue Manticore act. His heart sunk when he was informed about the breeding program and who Renfro had assigned as his partner. He kept his game face on and accepted his orders. This was a test. That twisted bitch was testing him to see if he had really forgotten Rachel. And of course it was a punishment. Why else would Renfro assign him to 452?

"_Do you understand your assignment, 494?"_

"_Yes, Ma'am. I am supposed to copulate every night with 452 until she is pregnant."_

"_Yes, 494, but there is more to your assignment."_

"_Ma'am?"_

"_I want you to gain her trust 494. I want you to befriend her, pretend you are on her side. I know she's planning to escape. I want you to help her and you will report back to me. When the time is right you will help her escape."_

"_Yes, Ma'am."_

Alec ran a hand down his chest remembering his first encounter with Max and smirked. It could've gone better, hell it could've gone a lot worse too. Either way, he wouldn't change a thing.

_She was sitting on her bunk when he entered her cell. He kept his eyes trained on her; the smell of cherries hitting him with full force distracted him._

"_Ben?"_

_He tilted his head focusing on her, "What?"_

"_You look like someone I used to know." 452 stated quietly, studying him._

"_Well, my designation's 494." He said walking further into her cell with his back to her._

"_His was 493." She stated. He stopped when he heard this Ben guy's designation. And suddenly, it clicked. He knew why Renfro had really paired them off. It wasn't to punish him, it was to punish 452. "You must be twinned."_

_He nodded turning towards her, "493...Your fellow traitor. Went psycho."_

"_What do __**YOU **__know about it?"_

"_I know that because of him I had to spend six months in Psy-ops. They wanted to make sure it wasn't genetic." They circled each other, neither one taking their eyes off the other. He didn't want to admit it but he liked 452. She was feisty and he loved feisty women. "Looks like ten years in the world finally got to him."_

"_It was this place that got to him."_

"_Whatever." He dismissed the subject, removing his gray t-shirt. "Well, let's get this over with, huh?" _

"_What are you doing?"_

"_We've been paired off. I'm your breeding partner."_

"_My what?"_

"_We're supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant."_

"_That's sick!"_

"_It's your own fault. If you and your friends hadn't blown up the DNA database, they'd still be whipping up embryos and putting them into surrogates. Take off your clothes."_

"_Get out of my cell."_

"_We've got our orders." He stated right before 452 kicked him in the stomach. He crashed against her cell door looking at her in surprise. "What the hell was that?!"_

"_The only kind of physical contact you and I are gonna have."_

_He leaned in, her eyes bright with challenge, and sneered. "You know, this isn't exactly a plum assignment for me either. You spent half your life out there in filth and degradation. I could catch something."_

"_Whatever you need to tell yourself. Just as long as we understand each other." She said handing him his t-shirt, brow cocked._

He knew he had gained a little bit of trust from her that night by not forcing her to follow their orders. Truth was, she had him the moment her chocolate eyes met his green ones. He felt the spark between them and he knew she did too. He could see her bristle as she sniffed the air. He could smell the subtle change in her scent but 452 had been away from her own kind for so long she didn't recognize what was passing between them.

He wanted to help her escape and not just for a new breeding partner. Part of him wanted to go with her but he knew if he did his unit would be punished in his place. He couldn't do that to them. So, he followed Renfro's orders like a good little soldier. He informed her of Max's plan to escape and continued to help Max in her efforts. Alec felt a little guilty when he saw the horror on Max's face when she realized she had infected the ordinary. Alec pushed that guilt down and out of his mind. If he didn't follow orders and bring them back to Manticore he'd be punished. He had to look out for himself. No one else was going to but the way she looked at him with those big brown eyes tore at his heart none the less.

**II.**

Somehow Alec had wormed his way into Max's life and heart. In the beginning she didn't want to admit that she had misjudged him. She didn't want to see that Alec was in fact, a good guy. It didn't matter that he always backed her up without question. All that she focused on was how he seemed to complicate her life. It was easier that way. It was easier to blame and hate him than to admit that she was attracted to him. There was also the fact that he was Ben's twin. It wasn't until the morning after she told him about what happened between her and Ben that she put two and two together.

"_Must be hard, huh? Having me around? Some guy with Ben's face, making you think about things you'd rather forget?"_

"_Yeah, that's probably why I'm such a bitch to you sometimes."_

"_Maybe." Alec smirked putting his arm around Max. "Or, you know maybe it's cuz I'm such a pain in the ass sometimes."_

_Max smiled at him pushing him slightly. "Be careful."_

"_Always."_

After that morning she tried to start fresh with Alec. It was still hard for her to put down her walls when it came to him. Sometimes it was just to painful for her to see his face, Ben's face. It just seemed that for every step forward they took, they took three steps back. The easiest thing for her to do when that happened was to go back to the bitching and snarking at him. It was familiar and easy. Max even suspected that Alec goaded her into some of their arguments just for the hell of it. It wouldn't surprise her.

They were doing so good for a while there. Alec was helping her with locating X5s in the city and getting them settled with new identities. He surprised her with his willingness to risk his own neck for others without there being something in it for him. For the first time she saw beyond Alec's self defense mechanisms. When he first started working at Jam Pony he drove her crazy with his laughing, and his talking and his breathing but now she relied on him more than anyone else. Alec was loyal, quick on his feet, charming and a smart-Alec. Hell, he was her smart-Alec. God help her, Alec had become one of the most important people in her life. He was no longer her pain in the ass side kick.

She almost ruined all their progress with one little lie. When Max first informed Alec that she had told Logan they were together he was shocked, then hurt and then angry all within seconds. Of course she would let everyone think that Alec was the kind of guy that would swoop in and steal someone's girl. Alec was a lot of things but he wasn't THAT guy. He was hurt that Max thought that little of him. He thought they were past all of the bullshit and had become real friends. He always had her back, this time included. So, Alec played along.

He played along so well that it began to mess with his head. They had Logan fooled, which was accomplished fairly easily with just a few kisses and cuddles. Fooling the rest of T.C., was when it became complicated. They couldn't just put their act on when Logan was around, someone was bound to figure out that they were faking it. So, the Alec and Max show played twenty four/seven. It was exhausting for Alec. Every kiss, cuddle and touch, killed him that much more. He wanted Max for real but he knew she didn't think of him as anything more than her second in command.

The day they raised the flag Alec wanted to do nothing more than puke his guts out. Max was standing there holding Logan's hand. He felt like he was being repeatedly kicked in the gut. Why did he have to always fall for the ones he couldn't have? Or better yet, why couldn't Max see what was right in front of her? Alec was there. Alec wanted her for real but Max was too blind to see the truth. The only thing that Alec could think of was throwing the great "Eyes Only" off the roof. The satisfaction he would get by getting rid of Logan Cale once and for all would be short lived. Max would never forgive him. The best option he had right now was to annoy Logan and he was going to do just that.

"Logan, I need my girlfriend back now if you don't mind." Alec said loudly as he stepped behind Max wrapping his arms around her waist. "C'mon Maxie, we got some celebrating to do."

Max leaned back into Alec letting him nuzzle her neck. If they weren't out here in front of all of Freak Nation she would've knocked him on his ass but this was her lie after all.

"Hey!" Mole yelled at the two of them, "You stop that right now or I'm gonna turn the hose on you!"

"You're just jealous Mole." Alec smirked.

"Jealous of what, Princess? You getting your ass handed to you on a daily basis by Max?"

"So obsessed with my ass, Mole. Maybe it's not me you're jealous of, maybe it's Max."

Mole snorted and stuttered before sending death glares Alec's way. Alec didn't seem to notice since he was paying more attention to Max. She was leaning back into his chest, her head resting against his shoulder, both of her hands covering his as she laughed at Mole.

A month after the flag raising, Alec was sitting at a table in the back of the mess hall with his feet up on the table. In an attempt to avoid Max, he was going through the list of supplies they needed that Gem had given to him earlier that morning. He had skipped breakfast and his morning meeting with Max and Mole. He knew there was going to be hell to pay for being missing in action but their little charade was starting to really get to him. He needed some time to himself, he needed time to breathe.

He knew he shouldn't have gone along with her ruse. For one, it was wrong for her to lie to Logan. Second, it wasn't fair for her to put him, Alec, in the middle. He did it anyway despite his reservations. He did it because he was her friend at least that's what he told himself. Truth was, he did it because he'd do whatever it took to get close to her, to make her see him as more than X5- 494. A solo supply run is exactly what Alec needed at the moment to clear his head. He looked up from his list when he heard the door at the far end of the room open. 'Syl, great. Max must've sent her to find me,' Alec thought to himself and went back to his list.

"Hey, Alec."

"Hey, Syl. Max send you to come fetch me?"

"No but now that you mention it, what's going on with you and my little sister?"

"Nothing, Syl. Everything's fine."

"And what about you, Alec? Are you alright?"

Alec threw her a crooked grin as he stood up from the table, "Yeah, Syl. I'm always alright. Tell Max I'm going out on a supply run. I'll be back after lunch."

The last nail in his coffin came a few days later on the night they were going over housing assignments. It was late and they were alone in HQ. It wasn't unusual, they had plenty of late nights spent there during the beginning of the siege. Max was sitting across the table from him, both of them reviewing maps of their new home base when she blurted out, "We should be room mates."

"Excuse me?"

"We should be room mates." She repeated.

"Why's that Max? You want to get me alone and have your wicked way with me?"

"In your dreams, pretty boy."

"Oh, Maxie, if you only knew what you did in my dreams..."

"ALEC!"

"Ok, ok!" He said holding up in his hands in mock surrender, "Why should we be room mates?"

"Well, um..."

"Is it cuz you heard the other X5s saying they don't wanna bunk down with a niner?"

"Yeah, and the fact that if we're gonna sell this 'we're in a relationship' dealio, what better way to do that than by living together?"

"Fine, but I'm getting a TV."

They ended up with a one bedroom apartment in one of the nicer buildings in the X5 section of Terminal City. Neither one wanted to arouse suspicion by pulling rank for a two bedroom. Alec was content with sleeping on the couch but most nights, Max would wake him and send him off to sleep in the bed; thanks to her shark DNA,she hardly ever used it. Of course he would protest, but Max would give him a look and send him on his way. The following morning, as Alec made his way to headquarters, he noticed something was off. Every X5 female he came in contact with gave him a wide berth. He couldn't figure out why at first. Then it finally hit him when Max joined him at HQ an hour later. He had slept in her bed, her scent was all over him. No X5 female was going to come within striking distance. Which meant Alec was screwed and not in the sexy way he preferred. No, now that Terminal City believed their lie, Alec wasn't going to get any play unless Max decided to pounce on him. Hell would freeze over before THAT would happen.

**III.**

They had been pretending to be a couple for over six months now and Logan still didn't seem to get the hint. Alec was just about fed up with the whole arrangement. It wasn't just because he hadn't seen any action since they started this ruse either. Being that close to Max, being able to touch and kiss her but it all being a big fat lie was eating away at him. Alec needed to put an end to it for his own mental health. He walked into HQ making a bee line for Max. Thank God HQ was empty. They had a knocked-down drag-out fight like no other. At first, Alec didn't want to hit Max back. He kept dodging and blocking her blows but she kept pushing his buttons until he snapped. Alec pinned her to the wall hissing in her ear, "You give up, Maxie?"

"No."

That's when everything changed. Max kissed him. Full on the lips, tongue and all kissed him. Alec was stunned at first but it didn't take him long to get with the program. He pushed Max back against the wall moving his hands down to her hips. His fingers dug into the soft flesh and clawed at the leather of her pants. Alec moved his hands behind her, grabbing her ass and tightening his grip as he lifted her up against him. Max locked her legs around his waist drawing him in even closer and purred.

"UGH. You X5s and your heat. No one wants to see THAT.", said Mole.

Alec pulled away from Max and set her back down on her feet. He looked over his shoulder to see Mole standing on the platform chomping on a cigar. "Then don't look, Mole."

"Princess, if you didn't want an audience you should've stayed home."

"Mole..."

"You kitty cats are so easy to rile up."

"C'mon, Max, lets go before I kill our head of security."

Alec waited until they were out of head quarters before stopping in his tracks to get a good look at her. His eyes roamed over her body trying to find any signs that indicated Max was in heat. When he didn't find any obvious symptoms he quirked his eyebrow at her asking, "You're not in heat are you, Maxie?" She glared at him and before Alec had a chance to react she kicked him square in the chest sending him flying into the nearest brick wall. "OW! What was that for?"

"You're an ass."

"What? It's a valid question! You just don't go around jumping my bones. Other woman yes, but you Max? No."

"I did not jump your bones!"

"Hmm, I seem to remember you locking your legs around my waist while I had your ass in my hands. I'd call that jumping my bones."

"ALEC!"

The next morning Alec woke with Max curled around him, her head resting on his chest. He trailed his fingers down her arm and sighed. Last night with Max was better than he ever imagined. Waking up with her next to him like this – he couldn't even put into words how it made him feel. He disentangled himself from her before heading to the bathroom. He needed a shower and then he would head for HQ so he didn't have to face her rejection. Alec let the hot water wash over him easing the ache out of his muscles. Last night was a one time thing he told himself. 'She must be going into heat.' He thought to himself. That's the only way Alec could rationalize her behavior. Max didn't want him. He knew that. She made that clear right from the get go.

Alec grabbed a bag throwing the essentials in it and tipped toed out of the apartment. He would crash at Joshua's for a few days to let things cool down and to give Max some space. He avoided her successfully for three days but on the fourth night she found him sitting on the space needle with a bottle of scotch.

"Alec? Are you alright?" She asked as she sat next to him.

Alec looked at her, smiling. "I'm always alright Max."

"Then why haven't you come home?"

"Didn't really feel like being your personal punching bag."

"Why would you be my..."

"Ah c'mon Max, after us sleeping together. I know you don't want me like that."

"Alec, about the other night..."

"Max, don't." Alec held up his hand before he took a long pull off the bottle and sighed, "I always fall for the ones that don't want me."

"It's a good thing Manticore made you pretty."

"What?"

"You heard me you idiot." Max reached over taking the bottle out of Alec's hand and took a drink. "I'm an idiot too. It's taken me this long to admit what I want."

"What do you want Maxie?"

"You. Guess I never wanted to see it because of what happened with Ben and with Renfro making us breeding partners. I treated you horribly but you were always by my side. Half the time I didn't even have to ask you, you were already there. I'm sorry Alec, I..."

Alec surged forward and kissed her with everything he had. "Let's go home."

Three months after his talk with Max on the space needle Alec found himself on watch with Krit. They were sitting on top of an old department store looking southeast. The ordinaries were more riled up than usual that day. Alec supposed it had something to do with the latest rumor that they, the transgenics, were the ones responsible for the pulse back in'09. Like that made any sense, they were just children back then. It wasn't like this was anything new. The ordinaries were blaming them for all sorts of messed up shit now a days.

Alec sat back in his chair watching Mole patrol the south east border with a handful of X7s. The lizard man was just itching for a fight, Alec knew this. He really should've sent someone down there with Mole. Maybe Syl; she was always able to keep him in check.

"So, Alec how's things going with you and my sister?"

"Great Man. Everything's great."

"Yeah? That's good to hear. Not mated yet though."

Alec nearly choked on his water. He turned his eyes away from Mole and stared at Krit. "Mated? No, no, not mated."

Krit smirked at Alec knowingly, "She hasn't had a heat with you yet. When she does, you two are gonna be mated by the end of it. Trust me."

"How do you know?"

"How do you think me and Syl got mated? Or more than half the other guys here. If you don't believe me Alec ask around."

Alec swallowed hard then turned his eyes back towards the southeast border. Mated. He never thought about it. He sat there on top of the building thinking about the implications. Did he want to be mated to Max? Did she want to be mated to him? And if they were to become mates would they have kids? Should they have kids? Did Alec want to have kids with Max? Alec shook his head. He knew the answer but that was in the very distant future, one that Alec hasn't planned for yet. Though he couldn't shake the image of a little girl with dark hair and his big green eyes.

They mated just like Krit told Alec they would. It happened during Max's first heat. He came back to their apartment unaware of the situation until he walked through the door. Before he could gather his wits and head for Joshua's Max had pounced on him. The next three days were a heat seeped blur. The only reminder of what had happened was the matching pair of teeth marks they were both now sporting.

**IV.**

The one year anniversary of the flag raising was supposed to be a celebratory day. It started out that way at least. Joshua was put in charge of the festivities. He had decorated the gym in black, red and white. There were balloons and streamers every where. Joshua had also strung white lights across the room and he had Dix rewire the gym's speakers.

There were long tables set up against one wall that held food, drinks and buckets of ice. Tables from the mess hall were grouped together in the center of the room, each covered in a red, white or black tablecloth. Joshua even talked Alec into procuring a bouncy house for the kids and a few boxes of fireworks. It looked good and everyone seemed to be having a great time, even Mole. Joshua had out done himself in Alec's opinion.

It was late in the afternoon when the shit hit the fan. Alec was sitting at a table drinking and sharing war stories with Devon and Keema. They were members of his old unit back at Manticore and twins of Max's siblings Krit and Brin. He couldn't help but think of the rest of his unit. There used to be twelve but only the three of them were currently in Terminal City. Biggs, Jewel and Lane were dead. That left six unaccounted for. They were all out on missions when Manticore fell. Alec hoped that they weren't among the ones that White had tortured and killed.

Alec was deep in thought over the whereabouts of the remainder of his unit when he heard Logan's voice carry through the gym. He looked up to see Max and Logan engaged in a heated argument. Alec made his way through the crowd quickly to be by his mate's side and to end the argument. He arrived just in time to hear Logan say, "Alec's a sociopath."

"Don't you mean a happy-go-lucky sociopath?" Alec asked as he stood next to Max.

Logan didn't bother to acknowledge Alec's question or his presence. Instead he stared at Max with wide eyes stating, "You can't be serious Max."

"I am. You and me were never like that anyway. It's time you move on and leave me and mine alone."

Alec slung his arm around Max's waist tugging her closer as he smirked at Logan. "You heard the lady, time for you to go home, Logan."

"I'm not going anywhere. Come on, Max, I know you're not really with Alec."

"I am. He's my mate."

"Your what?"

"He's my MATE." Max turned around lifting her long dark hair so Logan could see the teeth marks on her neck, "You see that? That means we're together."

Logan stared at her neck in disbelief which was immediately replaced by a look of repulsion. "Are those teeth marks? He BIT you? That's barbaric!"

Max felt the shift in the air almost immediately. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt Alec's rage radiating off of his body. She could hear some of the X5s growling, while others were spewing threats at Logan. Before Max could respond Alec dropped his arm from her waist and blurred. He had Logan by the throat, his feet dangling inches off the ground. "You haven't seen barbaric yet, Cale."

"Max won't let you hurt me."

"Yeah, that's probably true but I can rip your throat out before she even reaches us." Alec squeezed Logan's throat for emphasis and then released his grip letting him drop to the floor. "MOLE! Mole, get him out of TC! I don't want to see his face around here again!"

It's been exactly seven days since the party, four hours since he was brought into the infirmary and three since he got a blood transfusion from Syl. Max had fought tooth and nail over that until Alec pointed out if she was the donor he would get the virus and be able to kill Logan with just a touch. Max had relented then but she never left his side. Alec was kind of amused. He would've never pegged Max as a mother hen. He reached over taking her hand, "Max..."

"Are you alright? Do you want me to get the medic?"

"Nah. You know me, I'm always alright but you should go home."

"No, Alec."

"Maxie, I'm fine. Really. If you think this is bad," Alec gestured to himself tilting his head and smirking, "then you wouldn't have wanted to see me after the Volkovitch job. I'll spare you the details but it wasn't pretty."

"I'm not leaving."

"Fine but if you're gonna stay can you get me something to eat?"

Alec was released first thing in the morning. Even though he was feeling fine, Max wouldn't allow him to go to HQ. She said he needed to rest as if he was an ordinary and not a genetically enhanced soldier. Alec tried his best to get her to change her mind. He turned on the charm and when that didn't work he tried making light of the situation. Max though, was having none of it. "Alec, " she growled, "you get in that bed and you stay there. You hear me?"

"You want me in that bed?" Alec smirked at her wiggling his eyebrows. "Fine, on one condition. You stay to keep me company."

"I can't have to go to HQ."

"C'mon, Max, stay. Mole can handle it by himself for one day."

Max looked unsure but she toed off her boots anyway and climbed into bed with Alec. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. She knew she really should go to HQ. She had reports to go over and she needed to smooth over what happened on the supply run. Plus, there were countless other tasks that needed her attention. Truth was, she didn't really care at the moment. What Max did care about was making sure her mate was okay. Alec was right, Mole could handle things for one day.

It took two weeks after the shooting for Max to stop hovering over Alec. At first Alec found it to be cute but after the fourth day he was ready to kill her. He bit his tongue though and took the teasing from Mole and the other X5 Males. They could bust his balls all they wanted, at least he wasn't the one sleeping in an empty bed.

A few days later, Max was arguing with Mole over procuring the tanks outside their gates. Mole wanted to get them on their side of the fence so he could use them on the ordinaries. Of course, Max was dead set against it. It was the perfect moment for Alec to slip out of HQ. They were too busy fighting to notice his sudden disappearance. Once he was in the clear, he immediately called Syl to get Max's ring back. Alec then called Sketchy to help him with a list of items he needed for tonight with a promise to pay him triple the cost.

He stood on the roof of the apartment building surveying his work. Alec wanted this to be special. Sketchy had come through for him big time. He was able to get everything on the list. Alec looked at the table again and wondered if it was a bit too cheesy. He had all of Max's favorites; beer, roasted chicken, chocolates, even candles and red roses.

He didn't have any time to second guess himself. Max would be here at any moment. She always got back to their apartment by six on Fridays and right now it was five after six. Alec turned when he heard the door to the roof open, his breath hitching in his throat. Max was now walking towards him holding the note he left on the kitchen counter. Her eyes darted between Alec and the table with a confused look on her face. "Alec, what's all this?"

"Well, it's dinner."

"Dinner, uh?"

"Yup but there's something else."

Alec took the black velvet box out of his pocket and handed the box to her. Max raised her eyebrow turning the box over in her hand before opening it. Inside was a ring. It was white gold with three rectangular diamonds.

"What's going on Alec? Is this..."

"An engagement ring, yeah. I thought," Alec ducked his head rubbing at his bar code, "once this mess is over we could get married, start a life somewhere. Where ever you want to go or we could stay in Seattle..."

Max stared up at Alec not knowing what to say. She hadn't thought about what would happen when the siege was over. She never allowed herself to. It was all about surviving that day or short term plans. Now Alec was talking about their future and offering her a ring as if she was a normal girl. Max closed her eyes taking a deep breath. She allowed herself to picture the future. One without Familiars and the Government threatening their lives.

"Maxie, say something."

She opened her eyes and smiled up at her mate. "Yes, Alec."

Alec took the ring out of the box and then slid it on her left ring finger. He smiled down at Max with a huge smile not caring if he looked like an then pulled her against his chest before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Max tugged him closer and laughed. A little over a year ago they were fighting like cats and dogs. Now here they were, mated and planning a life together. She knew they were going to beat White and his familiars. It wasn't because of what Manitcore designed them to be but because they had something to fight for. For the first time in a long time she had hope.


End file.
